Florida is hands-down the best saltwater flyfishing destination in the States. The Keys still have big, wary bonefish. They have the wily permit. And they are loaded with tarpon. The Everglades, too, have tarpon, plus redfish and snook and even largemouth bass. Swing around to the Panhandle and you’ll find tarpon and reds. But Florida has some inland jewels as well. Largemouth bass are everywhere, in canals, ditches, lakes and ponds. Disney’s lakes supposedly have enormous bass.

I’m biased. I live here now as a southern expat. But check this out: the state has Montauk, Long Island Sound and all the southern beaches of Long Island which, together, might make for the best striped bass, bluefish and false albacore fishing in the nation. The Catskills—with the Beaverkill, the Willowemoc, the Neversink and the branches of the Delaware—offer the nation’s best trout fishing east of the Rockies. And the Adirondacks have earned their spot in flyfishing lore. Then you have the Great Lakes rivers—the Salmon River the most well-known among them—that have runs of salmon and steelhead. These species are not native, of course. But they are there. The state has incredible variety, maybe the best in the nation.

You just have to include this state. The Yellowstone, the Big Horn, the Madison, the Montana portions of rivers in Yellowstone National Park, the Beaverhead, the Missouri, various spring creeks…the list goes on and on. This is the best trout-fishing state in the union.

Pennsylvania

On this list partly for history’s sake. The Letort Spring Run is no longer what it once was. The rapid suburbanization of the area has taken an almost lethal toll. But this is the little spring creek where Vincent Marinaro and Charlie Fox pioneered the American version of fishing “far and fine,” that is, casting light tippets with small flies to big, wary trout. You still have the various spring-fed creeks in the State College area. like the Little Juniata, Penn’s Creek and, of course, Spring Creek, which seems to have thousands of brown trout per mile. Like New York, Pennsylvania has some steelhead and salmon rivers, like Elk and Walnut creeks. The only thing missing in this state is a saltwater scene. William Penn should have just gone ahead and annexed southern New Jersey.

Michigan

The famous Hex hatch, the utter wildness of the Upper Peninsula, the history, the land of Hemingway, Harrison and McGuane…and salmon and steelhead from the Great Lakes.

Fishing in Yellowstone National Park

Oregon

Washington could be here. Both states have runs of wild salmon and steelhead. Both have sea-run cutthroats. I’ll go with Oregon, home of the Clackamas, Deschutes, Klamath and Umpqua rivers…and the writer, David James Duncan.

Alaska

The state has a fishing season of only a very short few months. But, wow, what a few months those happen to be. Salmon, steelhead, resident rainbows, grayling, northern pike, grizzly bears, floatplanes and the last true American wilderness.

Idaho

You have the Big Wood, the South Fork of the Boise and the Big Lost—all great rivers. But what makes Idaho special is two places that offer some of the most challenging trout fishing in the country. Silver Creek is one. The sublime Henry’s Fork of the Snake River is the other. These two rivers are the big leagues.

North Carolina

A surprise? Maybe. And, again, I admit to a bias: I lived there as a kid and learned to flyfish on a farm pond. But North Carolina has tremendous variety. The mountains have trout streams, some with populations of native brook trout. The piedmont area is dotted with reservoirs (like Kerr Lake) and thousands of farm ponds that are filled with largemouth bass and bluegills. The Roanoke River gets an unbelievable run of striped bass every year. And the coast offers one of the few places in the U.S. where you can catch both stripers and redfish.

Colorado

The state is just eaten up with trout water, more than 9,000 miles of it to be (sort of) exact. The Fryingpan, the Gunnison, the San Juan, the Plattes (North and South) and the Colorado rivers are a few of the most famous.

–

Californians, Mainers, carp-enthusiasts and mid-westerners will certainly have issues with this list. Did I miss a state? Did I overrate a state? Let me know which ones and why.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Comments

The lone star state boasts trophy largemouth bass even though mostly in a drought the past few years. Austin, Texas is currently the fastest growing town in the country and with the Colorado River running through the city, site casting for 5 lb black bass is common size with a fly rod. 8 wt + big frog poppers = dozens of monster bass this time of year. Full stand-up kayaks transport us down these bass infested waters. Great write up, just wanted to give a shout out to fishing Texas. Dan Walker www.mockayaks.com Austin, Texas

Before the western states gained legendary fly fishing status, Theodore Gordon was experimenting with tying and fishing the first American dry flies in the Catskills. My personal favorite streams are still the more remote Adirondack ones. Soon I’ll be seeking native brook trout.

Yes, I’m biased too, but leave out Maine? The only remaining Atlantic salmon runs in the U.S.; fantastic largemouth and smallmouth bass, trophy brook trout, and landlocked salmon in thousands of lakes and ponds, many of which are found in wilderness settings; wild trout and salmon on legendary rivers like the Kennebec, Ponobscot, Magalloway, Kennebago, Androscoggin, Saco…; the home of the Gray Ghost for crying out loud! Plus, excellent saltwater fishing for species like striped bass, bluefish, blue shark, and it’s all in Maine!

Having never fished NC or PA, it probably isn’t fair of me to say either, but flip a coin between the two. Hey, the beauty of a list like this is that it gets passions flowing and, in the end, the story really is that there’s quality fly fishing just about everywhere in the U.S., depending on your preferred target species. I love the fishing here in New England, but envy the greener angling grass that other areas boast!

I have lived and/or fished in several of the states on your list, and I think you are spot on – with one exception. I absolutely love the state of N. Carolina, but for fly fishing, I don’t know how it rates above Virginia. I can’t think of a single species – native Appalachian brookies, wild brown and rainbows, smallmouth, carp, muskie, striper, redfish, sea trout, shad, etc. – that isn’t more plentiful in Virginia. I’m sure NC tops VA in largemouth (it’s hard to top Lake Norman), but we have them licked in snakehead. (I’m ready to give the Potomac to W. Virginia or Maryland!). Also, its hard to top NC for catching striper off the beach; but that’s not as easy to do with a fly rod as a surf rod. As a fly fisherman, a life sentence in N.C. would certainly be no punishment; but from where I sit in the Shenandoah Valley, I couldn’t fly fish all the water within 2 hours of my house in three lifetimes. Again, good list – especially the balance between east and west.

Hi Skip B and Monte…I’m trying to plan a surprise trip for my husband at the end of April/May….and it sounds like NC or VA might be the ticket for some fly fishing. However, my husband doesn’t like dry flies…he uses wet ones.

Would you still recommend NC or VA and if so…which rivers would be the best around April/May?